Common Rabies and Puppy Bite-Related Questions

The scenario is usually this - a puppy, playful as can be expected, nips an owner during play, hard enough that blood is drawn or a bruise is formed. Usually it is just a scratch, barely more than a welt, and sometimes not even bad enough to break the skin. I have seen paper cuts that are more severe. Panic follows. Fear of rabies infection sets in. Many times, Filipino pet owners come to me in a panicked state with the usual questions:

Q: What should I do as first aid for the bite?

A: 1. If a puppy bites or scratches you, immediately clean the wound with soap and running water.

     2. Thoroughly scrub the wound for around 5 minutes.

     3. After rinsing, apply povidone iodine OR 70% alcohol solution to the wound.

     4. Consult a medical doctor or visit a bite clinic.

Q: Do you administer anti-rabies shots for people?

A: No, I'm a veterinarian, an animal doctor. I don't treat people nor carry vaccines for human use. The anti-rabies vaccines that I have are for animals and are given to animals to prevent them from contracting rabies from animals that are infected with the rabies virus.

Q: Do I need post-exposure rabies shots from a medical doctor?

A: That is a question that should be answered by a medical doctor. (However, I feel it must be mentioned here that there are some medical professionals who, in my opinion, are too quick to inject bitten or scratched owners with post-exposure rabies injections without asking questions about the circumstances surrounding the bite nor explaining anything about the rabies virus to their patients. More frustrating than hearing about the sometimes unnecessary cost that a pet owner incurs from availing of this treatment is that this then promotes ignorance in pet owners and creates an unwillingness of owners to interact with their pet because of these exaggerated  fears.)

Q: Could you please inject our puppy with anti-rabies vaccine now, just in case our puppy bites us again?

A: I can inject the puppy with anti-rabies vaccine if it is healthy, if it is of proper age to be vaccinated (3 months and older), and if it hasn't had the antirabies shot already. The rabies vaccine does not cure rabies nor get rid of some inborn rabies toxin, as many Filipino pet owners mistakenly believe. The rabies vaccine protects a vaccinated dog from becoming infected if it ever is bitten by a rabid animal.

Q: Should I be worried? Am I going to get rabies from the puppy bite?

A: It is difficult to answer the question with one all-encompassing absolute answer, especially because there are so many factors to consider:

Why did the puppy bite?

Is the puppy healthy?

Has the puppy been vaccinated against rabies?

Does the puppy roam outside?

Has the puppy recently been bitten by another animal (a dog, a cat, a rat, etc.)

How severe is the wound? etc., etc.

A vet and medical doctor needs to know the answers to these questions because they provide important information about the seriousness of the bite wound and the risk of infection in the puppy and risk to the patient.

Q: Can you clip our puppy's teeth so we can prevent this from happening again?

A: No. This is a practice used in swine farms on newborn piglets. It is not done on puppies (or shouldn't be done on puppies). Puppies change teeth at around 5 months of age at which point the sharper teeth are replaced by the duller permanent set of teeth. You can prevent this from happening again by teaching your puppy bite inhibition and how to properly play and interact with people.

Q: Do you think our puppy could have rabies?

A: Puppies kept indoors and that have no interaction with other animals are unlikely to have contracted rabies, because rabies is generally contracted through bites from infected animals.

Q: Why does our puppy bite?

A: Puppy biting and nipping is normal. It should not surprise you that your puppy bites because the fact is puppies do not have hands with which to explore and interact with the world so they use their mouth and their teeth. However, you can teach your puppy to regulate the strength of its bite by teaching it bite inhibition, and play with your puppy using toys instead of just your hands so your puppy learns that these are the proper things to chew and nibble on.